Hello and Welcome Back!
Today is Friday, October 16, 2009
My name is Angela Walton-Raji
This is the African Roots podcast.
You can always reach me at africanrootspodcast@gmail.com

Upcoming events:
Saturday, October 24, 2009 9:00 AM-10:15 Genealogy Workshop
Mr. George Geder Professional Family Historian/Genealogist-African American Genealogy and Why it is Important
Carlsbad NM (Annual state NAACP Convention)

Saturday, October 24, at 10 A.M. National Archives, Washington DC
Room G-24, Research CenterIntroduction to Genealogy
National Archives staff representative will present a lecture on basic genealogical research in Federal records. This lecture occurs on select Saturdays each month: the next one is Saturday, November 21.

Saturday, October 24, noon–4 P.M. National Archives, Washington DC
Room G-24, Research Center “Help! I’m Stuck”Not sure where to begin? Has a genealogical problem stumped you? Would you like to explore new directions in your research? On select Saturdays, an archivist will be available from noon to 4 p.m. to answer questions. Look for the “Help! I’m Stuck” sign at the entrance.

Did you know that October is Family History Month?
Several websites have placed some wonderful suggestions on ways to stimulate your family history research and to get you going in some new directions. I want to encourage you all to re-visit AfriGeneas and join in some of the interesting challenges and exercises online to celebrate Family History Month.

AfriGeneas is THE premier web site for African American family history. Well, on the main genealogy and history message forum there have been several challenges that have been shared online, and the response has been great—as people are sharing stories about favorite ancestors, memorable visits and more.

Two weeks away from the big conference—October 29-31
Still time to register for the Black Genealogy Summit at the Allen County Public Library in Ft. Wayne Indiana. Now three days of workshop are planned.Black Genealogy Summit. Ft. Wayne Indiana

This has been an busy week in the genealogy community. Lots of activity still going on and I must first send out a thank you to everyone who responded to my encouragement of your involvement to save Pansoffkey cemetery in Sumter County Florida. UPDATE: Panasoffkey cemetery has been saved!

Special Thanks to everyone involved from the historical society in Sumter County, under the direction of Billy Ray and also to the unrelenting efforts of Toni Carrier founder of “>Low County Africana, Luckie Daniels of OurGeorgia Roots, George Geder of Santa Fe, Jack Robinson, of Onslow county NC and so many others for blogging about it, and to all of you who have responded with letters, to the commissioners, letters to the editor of the papers, and to the local community in Sumter County for this.

A few of the details—A meeting took place this week with the county commissioners and the local turnout was excellent. It was voted unanimously to not only end the efforts to move the cemetery, but also to preserve it, and to restore it which hopefully means to turn into a currently used cemetery once again.

I was happy to find a database online for one cemetery long abandoned, and that is now under the care of those who are working to preserve the site. This is the Zion Cemetery ledger. Zion cemetery was established by former slaves who lived in Shelby County Tennessee—Memphis. They were part of a large community of former slaves many who migrated to Memphis from Mississippi. By the 1970s the cemetery was in terrible condition, but in 2005, the effort to restore the cemetery began. There is a video on the project on their website that is very moving. The good news is that so far 4 acres have been cleared. In addition, the cemetery Ledger is online and you can type in the name of a deceased person and the page bearing information on the deceased from the official cemetery ledger appears.

I am also providing a link for endangered cemeteries nationwide, and encourage you to get involved .
Let’s all vow to work hard not only to tell our stories but to protect endangered burial grounds.

Meta

About Me

Author of "Black Indian Genealogy Research", Member of AAHGS -Afro-American Historical & Gennealogical Society, Founding member of AfriGeneas, Faculty for Samford IGHR, and MAAGI -Midwest African American Genealogy Institute, PAAC-Preservation of African American Cemeteries